whats everyone's strength???

RE: whats everyone's strength??? (Bigmike77)

Thu, 18 Aug 2005 14:29:59 GMT

ORIGINAL: dudely lubekin

Take the bench press, where there are different techniques used by so many people. Where do you put your hands? Do you focus on an explosive concentric movement, a smooth even pace, a slow eccentric? Do you touch the bench to your upper chest, somewhere between the clavicle and sternum, or just above the sternum, about even with the lower pec? Are your feet on the floor, on the bench, or in the air? Is your back flat against the bench with your shoulder girdle relaxed, or is it arched, or is it arched and your shoulders are contracted and pulled as close and as low as possible? From a physiological standpoint, should bench press be your main chest builder, or should inclines? And what level of incline, based on how your individual technique effects the plane in which your pecs contract? (I'm a stickler for this one, I prefer incline for building muscle, bench for strength, or both for a general workout)

correct and i agree with that, but some people are way off. I have seen some people with the bar(warmin up) light touch their chest and it was great bench form. He was doing everything that i think is needed to hvae a good bench. But once he added even alittle weight he harder touched his chest he went down 5 inches and back up. That isnt how he warmed up, so that how i guess"perfect" form is to me.

RE: whats everyone's strength??? (dudely lubekin)

Thu, 18 Aug 2005 13:54:32 GMT

BigMike- I guess it's a matter of context notice I said "perfect for isn't the same for everyone," after learning everything I could about technique, it seemed to me that bodybuilding is just like any other sport. Take baseball for example. Look at the different styles of swings between the big HR guys, McGwire, Sosa, Griffey, Canseco etc... While they all have/had very unique swings, it worked equally as well. None of them were as pretty as Griffey, but apparently were as or more effective. Take the bench press, where there are different techniques used by so many people. Where do you put your hands? Do you focus on an explosive concentric movement, a smooth even pace, a slow eccentric? Do you touch the bench to your upper chest, somewhere between the clavicle and sternum, or just above the sternum, about even with the lower pec? Are your feet on the floor, on the bench, or in the air? Is your back flat against the bench with your shoulder girdle relaxed, or is it arched, or is it arched and your shoulders are contracted and pulled as close and as low as possible? From a physiological standpoint, should bench press be your main chest builder, or should inclines? And what level of incline, based on how your individual technique effects the plane in which your pecs contract? (I'm a stickler for this one, I prefer incline for building muscle, bench for strength, or both for a general workout)

Determining the "proper" technique must be based on how your body responds to the way you attempt to perform an exercise. You can find an advocate for every form, every technique, every "trick" method, every tempo... Your "perfect form" might be the worst thing I could do, and vice-versa.

EDIT: Ronnie coleman is throwing around big weights that ARE heavy for him, and has done so always (according to him) to get to where he is now. There are no competitive bodybuilders who aren't on steroids, and lots of them use less weight with what is considered "better form" than what Ronnie does, but it doesn't seem to make a big difference. I once saw flex wheeler at a gym in sacramento doing what I thought was a warm up set on the bench - 225lbs, very fast, very smooth, and at most 3/4 range. Never appeared to even get tired, or break a sweat, or struggle at all. he finished up there and went on to some flyes, I thought "Oh, he was just getting a pump going." Nope. He used no more than 35 punds for what I guessed was 7-8 sets of flyes. Again, not full reps, elbow bend varying greatly throughout the range of motion, and very fast paced. That was it. He meandered around the gym and touched a few pieces of equipment, but nothing even worth noticing. I talked to one of the gym owners (he worked at his own gym, imagine that?) and he said people always asked him the same thing, and that as far as he knew, that was his "normal workout."

And thanks for the welcome!

RE: whats everyone's strength??? (Bigmike77)

Thu, 18 Aug 2005 13:18:39 GMT

ORIGINAL: dudely lubekin

I see a lot of people worried about "good form" here, which is good for preventing injuries and for isolation movements, but perfect form isn't necessarily the same for everyone... if you want to see someone who is very big and uses crappy form, go to 2005olympia.com and look at the video of ronnie coleman - throwing around huge weights but with some UGLY techniques (that have obviously, along with some good steroids and diet, yielded great results)

Welcome man, but i have to disagree about form isnt right for anybody. Take coleman for example you said it yourself, hes taken steriods that the reason he can do all the weight. If he hadnt taken sterios he wouldnt have been able to look so big and throw around those weights at all. He hasnt gotten hurt cause those weights are heavy but not to him. To a "clean" human being any wiehgts thata professional bb will be heavy. But for the sake of not getting hurt which sucks to happen, its from bad form. And you learned about training tech. if form wasnt important why would you study it?? And after a while of doing heavy weight with bad form its gunna catch up on you and your not gunna grow anymore.

RE: whats everyone's strength??? (dudely lubekin)

Thu, 18 Aug 2005 12:57:42 GMT

First post.............

I WAS a very strong young guy, and smaller than most of what I've seen posted here. That said, I was stronger, closer to BIGMIKE's strength but at a body weight of 145-150lbs (5'10-5'11 ish). I had serious intentions of bodybuilding when I was young, so I learned everything I could about nutrition, kinesiology, physiology, training techniques etc... and started working out seriously at the age of 12 (wish I hadn't done that). I had an older brother who was only 1 year ahead of me in school, but weighed 100lbs more than me, so I had to be VERY competitive. By teh end of my freshman year of highschool (15yrs old) I could bench 315, squat 450 and deadlift close to 500 (never maxed, hated deads). I could also powerclean 275, and military 250.

The beginning of my sophmore year of HS, I broke my wrist very bad, didn't workout for a year and kinda lost my drive after that, I've never been the same since. By the end of my senior year, I weighed about 165, could bench 365, squat 500 and dead 500 fairly easily. I got a job as a trainer, quit all my other sports and focused on weightlifting, and gained quite a bit of size, but my strength never really improved after that.

Then I got a job in an office, moved to a new town, started working long hours... quit working out for about 8 years. Just started again a month ago and while I'm much bigger now (my weight has gone as high as 235, though I'm holding steady at about 205 right now) I'm still not strong, or as strong as I'd like to be. I have set myself up on two very short-term routines, 3 days on, 1 day off, 6 weeks. I have done no maxing during this phase (I'm currently in week 5 of the first 6 week build-up) but my strength has increased immensely. my most recent workouts have included the following weights, for example: Bench - 225 3 sets, 16, 12 and 12 reps. DB Military - 90lb DB's (180 total) for 14, 11 and 80 for 12. Squats haven't gotten much better in 5 weeks, have basically only moved up to 275 for 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps. Don't do deads right now, but have been doing bent over rows with 225 for 3-4 sets of 12-15 reps. I feel pretty happy with those weights, considering the short amount of time I've been back "at it" and the fact that this is after 8 years of sedentary living.

I can attribute my current strength to 3 things: 1. my family is naturally strong, after 8 years off, I started benching 205 for sets of 15 - first day.
2. I eat LOTS OF PROTEIN
3. I perform simple exercises to failure, always.

I see a lot of people worried about "good form" here, which is good for preventing injuries and for isolation movements, but perfect form isn't necessarily the same for everyone... if you want to see someone who is very big and uses crappy form, go to 2005olympia.com and look at the video of ronnie coleman - throwing around huge weights but with some UGLY techniques (that have obviously, along with some good steroids and diet, yielded great results)

If you finished reading all that stuff, you're patient.

RE: whats everyone's strength??? (grahamb)

Thu, 18 Aug 2005 03:45:23 GMT

Hey thanks. I've always been fairly systematic about these things, but I've also found that once I got past about 28 or so my body stopped being quite so forgiving of the dumb things my ego wanted it to do !

RE: whats everyone's strength??? (Bigmike77)

Wed, 17 Aug 2005 06:17:25 GMT

ORIGINAL: grahamb

Cool. Thought it would be something like that. I'm not really sure what my "max" weight would be because I tend to just train with the most weight I can handle rather than going for a one rep max thing (big believer in lifting with good form rather than just increased weight).

Thats a great way to workout, most people just want to pack on the weight to look strong and end up hurting themselves.

RE: whats everyone's strength??? (grahamb)

Tue, 16 Aug 2005 22:20:18 GMT

Cool. Thought it would be something like that. I'm not really sure what my "max" weight would be because I tend to just train with the most weight I can handle rather than going for a one rep max thing (big believer in lifting with good form rather than just increased weight).

At the moment I'm doing bench press 10x3x135lbs (60Kg). If I'm feeling a bit stronger on any given day I'll go up 10Kg (~20lbs) for a set and see how I go. Have never been a big bencher in the past because it caused a lot of wrist pain. I've been making an effort this time around to build up slowly and finding it a lot easier.

Age: 34
Weigh: 73Kg (163lbs)
Height: 5'6"

RE: whats everyone's strength??? (Bigmike77)

Mon, 15 Aug 2005 06:20:27 GMT

ORIGINAL: grahamb

Just a question re max weights etc. How are you quoting the weight ? eg. for bench press is it the weight of the plates added to the bar, or the total weight of plates and bar ? Coming from Aus, it's hard enough for me to be constantly converting from Kg to lbs and back without not knowing what it is I'm converting

Graham.

For max bench and every other excersize that requires barbells, you include the bars weight and the barbell weight.
PS:::dont worry about converting the weight in lbs.

RE: whats everyone's strength??? (grahamb)

Sun, 14 Aug 2005 23:30:08 GMT

Just a question re max weights etc. How are you quoting the weight ? eg. for bench press is it the weight of the plates added to the bar, or the total weight of plates and bar ? Coming from Aus, it's hard enough for me to be constantly converting from Kg to lbs and back without not knowing what it is I'm converting

Graham.

RE: whats everyone's strength??? (Wrestler_125)

Sun, 14 Aug 2005 23:15:59 GMT

I'm 16
5'7
133lbs
bench-190
dead lift-285..is this any good? I'm looking to get my bench up to 230 for wrestling but I seemed to hit a wall, any ideas?...1st match Dec. 1st...Is this resonable?

RE: whats everyone's strength??? (noeyesareopen)

Sun, 14 Aug 2005 20:57:43 GMT

been lifting seriously for about 7 months now. I would post my max squat but I cant really do squats. my knees pop and crack. feels akward when I do them. I guess I'll have to start doin leg extensions or something.

RE: whats everyone's strength??? (bodybuilder17)

Sun, 14 Aug 2005 19:32:53 GMT

weigh 170 age 14 bench 205 or sumtimes 225 and i deadlift 405 squat 345 to 365

RE: whats everyone's strength??? (bodybuilder17)

Sun, 14 Aug 2005 19:27:18 GMT

hello i am 14 yrs old and i can bench 205 and i can squat 345 and my deadlift is 405 and total weight of 950 juss for a 14 yr old well if u need to ask me ? email me at Jessieguajardo@yahoo.com

RE: whats everyone's strength??? (Bigmike77)

Sun, 07 Aug 2005 17:50:34 GMT

Good, i used to be like that, but i realized that you can get serioulsy hurt. When you add on the weight to the extreme and you make one bad movement you can really hurt yourself and you could actully end up not working out anymore.

RE: whats everyone's strength??? (ThompsonA)

Sun, 07 Aug 2005 17:48:35 GMT

Thanks for the help/tips guys!

tomorrow i will start using perfect form on my workouts.